The present invention concerns an apparatus for emptying a load carrier loaded with articles, in particular in the form of packages, which has a lateral outlet opening for removal of the articles, comprising a mount for the load carrier, and a conveyor for carrying the articles away.
The invention further concerns a method of emptying a load carrier loaded with articles, in particular in the form of packages, which has a lateral outlet opening for removal of the articles.
Apparatuses and methods of the above-indicated kind are used, in particular, in logistics centers in which cargo articles are transloaded. In particular, package centers of logistics service providers are to be named as an example. In such organizations, a large number of load carriers are supplied and provided by means of vehicles, for example trucks or trains, for transloading the articles, in particular for transloading packages. In that respect transport, systems are known, which provide for the use of load carriers in the form of containers or swap bodies, as well as other systems, for example those of the present applicant, which use specifically designed load carriers which are transported within the trucks, containers, swap bodies, train wagons or other vehicles, and the dimensions of which are substantially adapted to the internal load dimensions of such vehicles. To ensure smooth and efficient operation of such logistics systems, it is of central significance that the supplied load carriers are freed of the loaded articles in a short time and, at the same time, damage to the articles is avoided to the greatest possible extent.
Unloading of the load carriers is typically effected manually or by means of especially designed transfer stations, which permit removal of the articles in individually separated fashion. What is common to those known methods of emptying load carriers is that they either require a high level of personnel involvement or, in any event, they require a large amount of time, which limits efficient operation.
Previous attempts to provide apparatuses for emptying a load carrier loaded with articles, which permit faster emptying of the load carrier, were confronted with the challenge that each load carrier is packed differently and sometimes non-homogenously. Articles of differing sizes and differing formats are, in the best-case scenario, arranged partly systematically in the known load carriers because loading of the load carriers is effected in other logistics centers after the articles are received and generally no preliminary sorting is possible. Expedited emptying of load carriers which are packed in that way, for example in the form of bulk cargo, has hitherto inevitably resulted in high defect rates.